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ON Thursday, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas reported that remittances from overseas Filipino workers in August were about $20 million less than they were in the same month a year ago, the first time since 2003 that cash remittances have actually declined. The amount of $20 million (about P917 million at the current exchange rate) is a considerable sum, but relative to the total amount of remittances received during the month of August—$2.04 billion, or $2.26 billion according to the more generous definition—it is not cause for panic, being a drop of a little less than one percent. It is, however, cause for at least some mild alarm. The BSP ascribed the downturn to the weakness of other currencies against the US dollar, citing in particular the Canadian dollar, the euro, and the Japanese yen. The BSP explained that a strong US dollar means that a constant sum in another currency is worth less in dollar terms—which is true—and that it might encourage some OFWs to … [Read more...] about The drop in remittances is cause for alarm

$22 millionWith Twilight at an end, Lautner has to build a career outside of the supernatural franchise. His non-Twilight debut, Abduction, was a bust. He’ has a small role in the Adam Sandler film Grown Ups 2. The Twilight money still rolling in (for now). Her earnings look set for a tumble: While she helped make Snow White and the Huntsman a hit, a sequel is still a ways off & the actress doesn't seem interested in doing more big-budget films. "The Hunger Games" star Jennifer Lawrence was paid under $1 million for the 1st film but Lionsgate was happy to pay more to secure her for the 2nd installment: Catching Fire. Adele sells plenty of music but without a big global tour, it was hard for her to make the Celebrity 100 this year. The new mom got plenty of attention this year for “Skyfall,” her theme for the latest Bond movie, which won an Oscar for Best Original Song. Teenage Dream made her the only act besides MJ to have 5 No. 1 singles from the same album. She … [Read more...] about [POLL] Who Is Your Favourite Top-Earning Celebrity Under 30?

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: There’s a housing bubble in Vancouver. The massive rise in Greater Vancouver home prices, which are up 30% year-on-year as of the end of May, has in many corners been attributed to rush of Chinese buyers coming into the market. Buyers seeking a safe place to park assets outside of China, however, are likely to be far less price-sensitive than traditional homebuyers. This is how markets start to look bubbly: uneconomic buyers dominate. Another factor potentially driving Vancouver prices higher, though, is that when priced in yuan rather than Canadian dollars, home prices in the region haven’t risen nearly as aggressively over the last decade. Seen this way, then, the rise in Vancouver home prices for the market’s most aggressive buyers hasn’t been, well, as aggressive. And in a note to clients, Matthew Barasch at RBC Capital Markets argues that, amid broad warnings on the bubble-like nature of … [Read more...] about Vancouver’s housing bubble might not be one after all

If you aspire to achieve financial independence or retire early, consider this piece of advice from Kristy Shen: Track your money. That’s how Shen says she and her husband Bryce were able to bank $1 million by age 31 and quit their jobs as computer engineers in Canada to travel the world. “I think tracking is absolutely paramount. That’s one of the things that would help people a lot financially,” Shen told So Money podcast host Farnoosh Torabi. But the couple, now both 34, not only tracked their spending to lay out a practical path to a million-dollar net worth, she told Business Insider. They also tracked their savings activity, recording all significant, and unexpected, hits or bumps to their savings to predict its affect on their long-term financial plan. Shen explains: “At the beginning of each year, we sat down and try to project our own monthly savings: ‘We know our paycheck, we know our normal expenses, so I think we … [Read more...] about A 31-year-old who ditched her 9-to-5 with $1 million in the bank shares the spreadsheet she used to get there

The Trump administration has come out swinging against Canada this week. The US slapped new anti-subsidy duties on Canadian softwood lumber imports, President Donald Trump tweeted critically about Canada’s dairy-pricing policies, and the outlook for NAFTA negotiations looks increasingly uncertain. The recent fixation on Canada may have come as something of a surprise to market watchers, given Trump’s primary focus on China, Mexico, and Japan during the presidential campaign, as well as his meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in February. Nevertheless, Trump’s rhetoric and actions have not spooked analysts, who argue that this isn’t the start of a trade war between two North American economies, but rather some political jockeying by the administration. “US tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber imports will not mark the beginning of a spiraling trade dispute between both countries,” BMI Research analysts said on … [Read more...] about Trump’s tough stance on Canada ‘boils down to political theatre’

Facebook’s ad business is growing like gangbusters, with marketers forking over big dollars to reach the social network’s vast audience of North American users. During the fourth quarter, Facebook said that its average revenue per user in the US and Canada swelled to $19.81, up from $13.70 in the final three months of 2015. Even more impressive, the North American ARPU has exploded in the five years since Facebook had its IPO. In the fourth quarter of 2012, Facebook’s average revenue per user in the US and Canada was just $4.08 Here’s the chart from Facebook’s IPO prospectus back in 2012: Viewed on an annual basis, Facebook’s ARPU story is even more striking. Facebook generated $62.23 per US and Canadian user in 2016, compared to just $13.58 in all of 2012. In other words, Facebook has figured out how to ring up an additional $50 per year from every North American user since its IPO. Not bad. A lot has changed since … [Read more...] about Facebook now gets almost $20 from each US and Canadian user, compared to under $5 at its IPO

Restoration Hardware shares plunged 23% in early trading on Thursday after the company reported preliminary fourth-quarter results. The home-furnishings company’s earnings statement out Wednesday contained a letter to shareholders detailing “a fair amount of bad news” about everything that went wrong in Q4. First, although orders were up in the quarter, its RH Modern brand experienced shipping delays as some vendors struggled. And then there’s the oil crash. Restoration Hardware says that markets in regions that have been affected by the energy sector underperformed, including Canada and Texas. Also, the company’s effort to boost sales through a marketing campaign did not work out as expected. It said that high-end consumers did not spend as much money as before, given the volatility in financial markets and “extreme conditions” last month, which is historically its best period for furniture sales. But in the company’s … [Read more...] about Restoration Hardware forecasts a terrible Q4 and breaks out every excuse in the book

It’s been a rough couple of months for the US dollar. The dollar index is down about 7.5% since its peak in mid-January, trading near 92.50 and at its lowest level in almost 16 months. There have a bunch of theories about what’s causing the greenback’s drop – including a rumored secret G-20 meeting to “take down” the dollar. But Credit Suisse’s foreign-exchange strategy team led by Shahab Jalinoos attributes much of the dollar’s weakness to something much simpler: the rebound in oil prices and the subsequent rebound in currencies of oil exporters. “Oil exporter currencies are the main drivers of broad USD weakness,” the team wrote in a research note to clients. “Oil exporter currencies CAD and MXN,” the Canadian dollar and the Mexican peso, “have contributed greatly to USD weakness, much more than ‘policy divergence’ currencies such as EUR and JPY,” the euro and the … [Read more...] about There’s a big reason the US dollar has been getting destroyed

Canada’s Liberal leader Justin Trudeau rode a late campaign surge to a stunning election victory on Monday, toppling Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservatives, according to projections from Canada’s major television networks. As the numbers rolled in, Harper resigned as leader of the Conservative Party. This is the first time in 9 1/2 years that Canada has had a new leader. Harper, who had been prime minister since early 2006, had led a majority government since 2011. Now Harper is on his way out, and Trudeau – the son of former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, one of the most popular leaders in Canadian history – will be the next leader of Canada. Here’s what the analysts had to say: BART WAKABAYASHI, HEAD OF FOREIGN EXCHANGE FOR STATE STREET GLOBAL MARKETS, TOKYO “The hype is much more than the bite, but it’s obviously headlines to trade off. I think we’ll continue to trade Canada as a … [Read more...] about ‘We all underestimated Justin Trudeau’ — Here’s what analysts are saying about Canada’s surprise Liberal victory

Stocks got crushed for the second straight day after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates on Wednesday for the first time in nine years. Since hitting a high of around 2,075 after the Fed’s decision on Wednesday, the S&P 500 has fallen about 70 points while Dow has lost about 530 points from its high. First, the scoreboard: Dow: 17,128.6, -367.3, (-2.1%) S&P 500: 2,005.6, -36.3, (-1.8%) Nasdaq: 4,923.1, -79.5, (-1.6%) And now, the top stories on Friday: So it looks like investors weren’t that crazy about the Federal Reserve’s latest rate hike. On Friday stocks got slammed and closed near their lows for the second straight day as all of the major averages ended up lower for the week following a furious post-Fed rally on Wednesday. Friday also marked a “quadruple witching” event in which stock options, stock futures, index options, and index futures all expired on the same day. This led to one of the highest-volume days of … [Read more...] about STOCKS GOT CRUSHED: Here’s what you need to know